Structural assembly for coin chutes and the like



p 0. 1955 F. G. NICOLAUS 2,718,352

STRUCTURAL ASSEMBLY FOR COIN CHUTES AND THE LIKE Filed March 2, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l /ZA I25 +1 INVENTOR. Frank G. flicolaus Sept. 20, 1955 F. G. NICOLAUS STRUCTURAL ASSEMBLY FOR COIN CHUTES AND THE LIKE Filed March 2, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Frank GNlcaiaus HI I I! II My United States Patent STRUCTURAL ASSEMBLY FORCOIN CHUTES AND THE LIKE Frank G. Nicolaus, Chicago, 11]., assignor to Raymond T. Moloncy, Chicago, Ill.

Application March 2, 1950, Serial No. 147,215

? Claims. (Cl. 23244) This disclosure relates to improvements in the construction of channeled assemblies,'such as coin chutes and analogous structures.

An object of the novel construction is the provision of a multi-channel coin-chute which can be easily and economically fabricated, assembled, and disassembled.

Another object is the provision, in a channeled structure, of a simple assembly utilizing a channel plate and a plurality of wall plates having a certain lug and slot formation by which the several plates are seated in a certain order and keyed home in the channel plate in spaced relation to define a plurality of coin passages.

Another object is the provision of a structural assembly consisting of a main body having slots in walls thereof, and the slots having offset notches in sets at various depths, and wall or partition plates having lugs interlocking in the notches of corresponding sets to mount the plates in spaced relation determined by the depth at which the set of notches is situated.

Additional objects and aspects of novelty relate to the form and location of the lug-and-slot means; to the interlocking assembly of the wall plates thereby; to the securing of the assembled parts by means of a single bolt; to the formation of coin runways by integral parts of the wall plates also contrived to afiord additional spacing and rigidifying means for the latter; and to other details of construction and assembly of the parts of the embodiment illustrated hereinafter in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a coin chute embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the chute assembly, with parts shown in section, looking in the direction of lines 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the chute assembly; and

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective of the channel assembly.

The coin chute assembly shown in Fig. l, to illustrate one embodiment of the novel construction, includes a base plate of special configuration (which is not relevant to the present disclosures) and upon which is mounted a vertically elongated multi-channel coin chute generally indicated at 12, Fig. 1.

At the top of chute assembly 12 are coin passages. or entrances 12A, 12B, 12C (Fig. 3), into which are to be deposited five-, ten-, and twenty-five-cent coins, respectively, for control purposes in vending or amusement apparatus.

The construction and assembly of the components of chute 12 are quickly revealed in Fig. 4, said components comprising a principal body member in the form of a channel plate 14 and a plurality of interlocking walldefining members or plates 16, 1S, and 20.

The main body or channel plate 14 has opposite sidewalls 14A and 14B in which are situated certain slot and notch formations, the simplest of which is seen at the lower end of the channel plate 14 in Fig. 4, and consists in a lead-in slot 15, normal to the bottom of the channel ice and terminating in an offset notch 15A so that the whole slot formation is of L-shape. This lower slot is duplicated on the opposite sidewall of the channel, so that the slots may besaid-to be arranged in sets.

Additional pairs or sets of assembly slots are provided at intervals above the said lower pair; however, the succeeding pairs, progressing upwardly, are modified to include additional offset locking notches; and when sets of slots" are referred to, the corresponding notch formations are generally intended as part of the slot formation.

For .example, the next higher slot has, in addition to a notch 15A, a second notch 15B which is offset to a greater extent (lengthwiseof the channel plate) than the bottom notch 15A.

Moreover, the lead-in or adjoining entrance portion, at 15C, for this slot is wider than the entrance or lead-in for the lower slot 15; and it should be observed that the opposite or companion slot formation at this level has a considerably wider mouth, entrance, or lead-in, as indicated at 15X, although the offset notches of the latterare otherwise identical to and aligned with notches 15Aand 15B (see Fig. 2 also).

The next highter pair of assembly slots includes a bottom (in the sense of being inwardly deepest) notch 15B and an adjoining wider oifset notch 15D at the next shallower depth, while the companion formation has a considerably widened lead-in or mouth portion as indicated at.15Z (see also Fig. 2).

At the upper end of the channel plate is still another set of assembly slots having an increased number of steps or'oft'setnotches 15A, 15B, 1511), the companion slot of the set (on the opposite sidewall or flange of the channel plate, Fig. 4) being of identical construction.

As in the case of the other multiple-notch slots therebelow, the offset or effective width of the slots increases in steps from the innermost notch outwardly, and there is a notch 15A, 1513, or 15D for each step with the bottoms of the notches being located at increasing distances laterally away from the opposite side of the appertaining slot.

Viewed from another aspect, it will appear in Figs. 2 and 4 that in the uppermost slot structure, for instance, the slot is reduced in width in steps inwardly from its open end or mouth to provide a series of stop shoulders against which the corresponding lugs of the wall plates abut when inserted, the width of the lugs in succeeding plates increasing similarly to fit into a given slot of corresponding predetermined width, so that such lug may not be inserted beyond a certain point or depth in the slot.

To complete the chute assembly, the several wall plates 16, 18, 20, are provided with lug formations each adapted to seat and lock in certain corresponding slot formations in the manner aforesaid, such that the several plates are maintained in spaced relation in parallel planes to define passages, it being observed specifically at the top of Fig. 2, for example, that there is one of the laterally-offset notches 15A, 15B, or 15D at each step or increase in the width of the slot to receive one of the corresponding or matching lugs numbered 16A, 18B, or 20D in Fig. 4.

The wall plate 16, for example, has three pairs of lugs which key into complementary slots and notches in the channel plate. Lugs 16A paired at the top and bottom of this plate, and lugs 16A and 16AX near the middle of this plate, all seat home and lock into the notches 15A of the channel plate, as indicated in Fig. 2, it being noted, however, that lug 16AX is enlarged for special purposes to be explained.

Thus, for the innermost wall plate 16, all of the lugs 16A (16AX) seat in the deepest notches 15A, themiddle righthand lug MAX differing from'its companions only in that it is of a width to correspond to the. enlarged by predetermined steps outwardly toward the entrance portions thereof and each having an offset notch portion at each step; said chute plates each having lugs which are progressively wider for succeeding plates to match a certain slot width to enter said slots to the limiting width thereof opposite a matching notch and fit and seat into the said matching notch at the appertaining step, whereby said chute plates are located and mounted in spaced relation on said base member to define chute passages therebetween.

6. A construction according to claim 5 in Which the distance across any slot to the bottom of any appertaining notch is greater than the width of any lug matching such notch, whereby the lug of corresponding width may freely enter the slot to a position opposite its matching notch and be freely shifted laterally into and out of seated condition in said matching notch by appropriate shifting of the appertaining plate.

7. A construction according to claim 5 further characterized by the provision of a key pin passed through all plates and removably secured to the base member to prevent shifting of the plates and lateral dislodgement of the lugs from the notches in which they are seated as aforesaid.

8. A construction according to claim 5 further characterized in that certain of said lugs on juxtaposed plates and the matching slot formations therefor are enlarged to be of a width approximating the diameter of a coin element of certain size to define a lateral coin exit passage from the chute.

9. A structural assembly comprising a body having opposite side wall portions in each of which is formed an open-ended slot having laterally ofiset notches located at predetermined depths inwardly from the entrance thereof, said slots being increasingly widened outwardly from steps formed in the region adjoining each additional notch after the first one, counting outwardly from the bottom of the slot, said steps acting as a lug stop for lugs of width too great to pass the same into the narrower region therebehind; together with plate members each having lug formations of predetermined differing width, to enter said slots and seat laterally in certain notches therein at locations determined by the width of the slot to the step at said locations, whereby said plates are secured on said body in predetermined spaced relation to each other at distances apart determined by the location, inwardly of said entrances, of the notches in which their respective lugs can be seated, as aforesaid.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 626,429 Kearns June 6, 1899 1,666,849 Fry Apr. 17, 1928 1,728,964 Gross Sept. 24, 1929 1,749,579 Giles Mar. 4, 1930 2,041,037 Waymeyer May 19, 1936 2,088,320 De Varies July 27, 1937 2,108,651 Cherry et a1. Feb. 15, 1938 2,376,357 Hokanson May 22, 1945 2,405,643 Crot Aug. 13, 1946 2,486,932 Elliott 'Nov. 1, 1949- 

